Saturday, January 30, 2010

Bowling

Today Gemma, Spencer and I went bowling.

No special reason - just to spend some time together.

Gianna was having a lovely time with Bamma, while I enjoyed my time with these two cuties.

It was only for an hour, but I'm so glad we did it.
We'll need to do stuff like this more often. I think by looking at Spencer's face, he feels the same.

Gemma was pretty proud of herself in this photo. See the two little fingers sticking up from my head - she was giving my bunny-ears!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Winter Carnival

While our city celebrates The Winter Carnival each year, so does our school. The school sells buttons for $1.00 (just like the real carnival) with the proceeds going towards the winner of the medallion hunt. To bring the festivities to a close, they end the week with a parade of floats. All decorated in a winter theme.

After Gemma participated the first time in kindergarden, David decided to make a base float for both kids and then each year they can decorate however they choose. David is usally the creative assitant when it comes to the floats - but this year Gemma and Spencer did all the work themselves. The only part I played was in following requests for glue with the glue gun.

Here are the kids with their floats the day before the parade.


Here is sweet Gianna waiting for the parade to start. She skipped her nap for the event and did great! We were waiting in the hallway by the kindergarden classrooms, she kept peeking into them and wanting to check out all the fun toys she could see. I told her I wasn't ready to send her to school quite yet!

Here is Spencer on his way to the gym for the "staging" of the parade. The children who don't make a float line up along the hall ways and are spectators.
And Gemma on her way to the gym.

Staging.


Unfortunately, I didn't get any more (good) photos of the kids. I was ready with the camera, but unfortunately not quick enough to get photos that weren't either blurry or the back of a head. Oh well - Gianna and I had a great time watching the parade.

This Isn't A Good Sign

So this is Gianna last night at the dining room table.
Working on not one, but two laptops!

I wonder where she gets it from????

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

OMG


Well, my adorable 2 year old has started using a new phrase that I am LESS than thrilled about.

I heard it for the first time upon my return from DC.

"Oh my God!"

The first time I heard her say it, I admit, I laughed. But at the same time I was mortified. Since then, she has used it several times and in the "appropriate" context. (I realize it's never really appropriate to say "on my God")

I immediately correct Gianna and say, "Oh my goodness" and she' ll usually repeat the "correct" expression.

That said - we were in Target yesterday and Gianna saw something that caught her eye and in a very loud voice exclaimed "Oh my God!" A lady was near us and I felt her looking at us - I couldn't dare make eye contact as I was trying to wish us invisible. I corrected her, and again she repeated the correct expression.

How do I get this to stop? Obviously, Gianna is too young to understand what she is saying - but I need this to end!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Pine Wood Derby Races

Last night we had the pleasure of attending Joshua's Pine Derby Races for Cub Scouts. Here is the presentation of the flag - I was very impressed watching these young boys carrying the flags.
Before the races began, the head Den Master (I think that's his title!) asked all the scouts to stand up and thank their parents for helping build their cars. Joshua turned and faced Judy, but looked to heaven to thank John. He and John worked together last year to build the car.
How cute are these two! Joshua wanted to just sit and hold Gianna and she was happy to have a lap to sit on.

Here are the kids waiting for the races to begin.
The red car is Joshua's. He was 4 and 0 going into the 5th heat!
Waiting for the next heat.....can you see the tension!
2nd Place!!!!! He didn't win the final race - but by looking at this face, you can't tell! He was so excited! What a great night for Joshua! I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with him!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

An Open Letter To Gianna

Dear Gianna,

I love you very much. I enjoy spending time with you and I feel so fortunate to be able to stay home with you.

However, could you please not wake up before 6:30am. This waking up between 5:00 and 6:00 am is going to do bad things to me.

Love,
mommy
xoxo

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Sights

WARNING! LOTS OF PHOTOS!

On Saturday, we went on a four hour walk. We started in Chinatown.
Arch in Chinatown
Starbucks in Chinatown
The other side of the arch in Chinatown.

While walking down the street, we passed a woman carrying a pastry box. I told David that I wondered what was in the box...the next thing I knew, we were in front of the bakery! We stopped inside and all they sold was cupcakes! We bought one and shared it.
Red Velvet Cupcake....yummy!
David not understanding my need to photograph everything!

We kept walking and started to see the "real" sights of DC.
The National Archives
The Lone Sailor
The Capitol
The Washington Monument

My favorite moment of the day occurred at the World War II Memorial. The memorial is a large circle with walls built of stone. Some idiots (late teens/early twenties?) decided it would be a good idea to climb on top and sit on the wall. They were on the opposite side of the memorial and David said something to me about how they should get off the wall. We kept walking. Within moments we heard a man screaming, "GET! OFF! MY! WALL!" He repeated this several times when we realized it was one of the park rangers. He walked very quickly to them repeating his demand until they finally responded. Many of us just stopped and stared. A few minutes later we crossed paths with the ranger....he looked 16 years old and maybe weighed 110 lbs soaking wet! We smiled at eachother and David thanked him. All he could say was, "They were on my wall!" in such a hurt and frustrated tone. I was thankful and afraid of him all at the same time!
The World War II Memorial
This wall is along the Korean War Memorial. These images are of actual soldiers from the war. Their faces were laser-cut into the stone. It's amazing to see in person.
The Korean War Memorial

The faces of these statues are haunting. I would love to see this at night - I'm sure it must be even more dramatic with the lighting.
View from The Lincoln Memorial


Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam War Memorial
My uncle. David Mendez.
After seeing these sights, we were probably 2 1/2 hours into our walk. I was getting hungry and had the idea to "stop-by" The White House and see if anyone in the kitchen would be available to make me a quick snack.


After I saw this, I decided not to ask. :) We ended up eating a pretzel from a street vendor instead!
A sniper on top of The White House. "Are you looking at me?"
The White House

This was the end of our Saturday tour. We walked back to the metro station and headed back to the apartment to relax for a little while before we went to dinner.

The weather was perfect for our walk and we had so much fun taking our time and enjoying the sights and the company.


Monday, January 18, 2010

Weekend Away

David and I spent a wonderful three-day weekend in Washington DC together. This was the first time we've ever left the kids; they've spent the night at my mom's house, but we've never been more than a 10 minute drive away.

Well, on Friday, that changed. (Thanks to my mom, Evelyn and Edmee!)

I hopped on a plane and two hours later I was with my favorite guy! This was shortly after I arrived. We dropped my bags at the apartment and headed out for dinner.


On Saturday we did some sight-seeing.


Saturday evening we went to dinner. (Not the best photo of me, but we're together and I'm happy!)
Sunday was a damp and grey day. We started our day later than planned so only had time for one museum. We took this photo in the metro station waiting for our train back to the apartment after dinner.
I took lots of other photos - but these are my favorites. We have so few pictures of us together - heck we have so few pictures with me in them! I'm usually the photographer.

I had a great weekend and enjoyed every minute. The time went by too quickly, but I'm so thankful we were able to have this time together. Maybe we'll have to do this every year....